


The testament of Jane

by TacitPermission



Series: The Testament of Jane [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-03-29
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-10-17 08:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/175058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TacitPermission/pseuds/TacitPermission
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old 'friend' is coming after Dean. Jane is Lisa's half sister and perfectly suitable bait for the bait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reaction

**Author's Note:**

> This is the start of a series that will eventually contain adult material. This is my first posted fanfic in nearly ten years- please critique with compassion. This is un-Beta'd, if you would like to volunteer to beta please drop me a line :)

 

Prologue:

The clinic was always cold. Dr Jane Braeden D.V.M. didn’t have room to complain though, it wasn’t her clinic. She was filling in for Dr Reed again. She just pulled on a long sleeve tee under her scrub top as she changed for the third time that day.

A knock on the office door, “hey, Doc? Your three forty five just showed up.” Jane looked at her watch, it was three forty five on the dot. She still hadn’t been in to see the three thirty appointment.

Jane opened the office door as she pulled on her lab coat, “Thanks Betty, they’re just here for shots right?”

Betty shoved a paper towel wrapped sandwich into Jane’s hands, she was very thankful she’d washed after ditching her last pair of scrubs. Really, she couldn’t blame Bugsykitty for peeing all over her, if someone was aiming a needle at her bladder she’d probably do the same thing. Although why the cat couldn’t have just pee’d in the litter box that they’d been monitoring for the last THREE days, Jane would never know. Cats were one of the mysteries of the world and Jane had resigned herself to that fact a long time ago.

“No, the three thirty is puppy shots. Three forty five is Mrs. Corvine and Peaches the perfectly healthy poodle.” She continued at Jane’s raised eyebrow, “I’ve never met a hypochondriac who fixated on their dog before.” And that was saying something because Betty was 60 if she was a day and had been Dr Eller’s receptionist for 15 years before Dr Reed took over the practice nearly ten years ago.

Jane finished her sandwich and topped it off by downing the last of her cold coffee from that morning. A quick glance at the clock showed it was three fifty, lunch time was over. The puppy shots were in exam room A, it was a quick appointment. Sticking an adorable bundle of fluff with a big bad pointy needle wasn’t fun, but it sure was easy.

Before Jane moved on to the next appointment she stopped to wash her hands . The small window above the sink showed the back parking lot was grey. Jane craned her neck to see dark heavy hovering clouds. She sighed as the lights flickered. Just what they needed on a hectic day like today, a possible power outage…

　

)O(

They were on I70 just outside of Grande Junction, Colorado. A low grumble let Sam know he was hungry, but really he was mostly content. They’d had a good day and this was one of Dean’s favorite stretches of desolate highway. The temperature had leveled off to a sleepy making gentle warmth. Dean had switched off the AC to save the Impala’s electrical system the wear. The air blowing in now was scented with sage and pine, scents Sam associated almost entirely with Colorado. Not that Utah was all that bad, Dean had pulled over at one of the scenic look outs for a quick pee break. They had spent nearly fifteen minutes just staring out over the sweeping vista of San Raphael Valley, till Dean had broken the spell by questioning why a dick like Raphael had gotten something so gorgeous named after him. Leave it to Dean.

Sam was just starting to really doze when a phone rang. He patted his pocket but realized that it wasn’t his phone, especially with The Who as the ring tone. The phone continued to ring and as much as Sam kinda liked Roger Daltrey’s voice, “Dude you gonna get that?”

“No.”

Sam finally cracked his eyes open. Dean was making what could only be described as the uber-bitchface. Which, really? Dean always teased him about and now he was making? Something was wrong in the force.

“So you gonna reject the call?”

“I already did. Twice.” , whoa, maybe Sam had been more asleep than he thought. He looked over at his brother and a memory tugged at him, a guilt he couldn’t place surged up into his throat. It was just a flash of Dean holding his phone with the sunlight pouring in from behind him. No it was more than that, it was the look of regret on his face too. It made Sam nauseous.

“Hey, I’m driving here!” Dean belted out as Sam tugged the phone from his brothers grip.

“Hello?”

“Dean?”

“No, it’s his brother.”

“Sam?” That was when Sam placed the voice, Lisa, he was talking to Lisa.

“Yeah, uh, Dean’s driving right now.”

“Oh, I need his help. I need your help.” Sam heard Dean suck a hard breath. It wasn’t hard to overhear her.

“What’s going on, is Ben okay?!” Dean asked.

“Tell him Ben is fine, but my sister…” She sobbed quietly for a moment, “I think my sister’s a werewolf!”

“What! How?” Both Brothers said at the same time. Sam made shushing motions with his hands that made Dean grunt and Sam knew he’d be hearing about that later.

“She was attacked at work, we went to the hospital to see her, but she wasn’t there, it was there instead, and we had to get her out of there, but I didn’t know for sure it was her and…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. What’s your sisters name?”

“Jane.” “Jane.” Both Lisa and Dean replied.

“You said she was at work, what does Jane do?”

This time Dean let Lisa reply, “She’s a Vet.”

“So she was attacked by a dog?” Sam again had a flash of memory. Just an image of a large eared German shepherd. That moment was all Dean needed. They had already pulled off the highway so it wasn’t hard for Dean to snatch the phone back.

“Lisa, where are you? yeah okay, we’ll be there by tomorrow night.” Sam couldn’t quite hear all of her reply, “Just be careful, okay?”

Obviously she replied in the affirmative as Dean ended the call, “Dude, what the hell? I mean, What. The. Hell!”

“She sounded really upset Dean, I thought I could help her calm down, get some more infor…”

“Just no. Okay? You don‘t go digging for more info from my ex-girlfriend.” Dean smacked the steering wheel, “She’s the one who broke it off. Now she’s calling me for help?”

And wasn’t that an interesting tidbit of info? Sam hadn’t known. Dean had been pretty tight lipped about the whole affair. Sam had some of the information about what happened during his missing year from Castiel, but Dean’s relationship with Lisa was not a subject Cas had touched on much. Dean checked out the mirrors, gauged the speed of traffic and then flipped the mother of all U-turns. Sam pretended his grimace was for the undercarriage of the car across the gravelly median- not for his horrible inner punning.

“So where are we headed?”

“Tacoma.”

It was another 12 hours later nearing Portland when Sam spoke up about it again, “You know she probably wasn’t attacked by a werewolf.”

“I know” Dean grit out.

“The moon phase is wrong and it seems unlikely that a vet-”

“I know!” Dean interrupted, he was white knuckling the steering wheel again, “Look we’ll just make sure she’s not and then we can be on our merry way.”

“Riiiiiight, because we couldn’t do that over the phone.”

“I just…”Dean let the thought drift. Sam watched the muscle in Dean’s jaw twitch. Normally he loved making that happen, it was his little brother duty, but right now he knew better.

“You just reacted.”

Dean relaxed a little, “Yeah.”

“You reacted to someone you still love being in pain, you reacted instinctively to a woman in distress.”

“Sam…” There was a warning in Dean’s tone and he was gritting his teeth again.

“Just hear me out, Dean. We’ve been hunting the MOTHER of all monsters, literally. And if we believe Genesis, the first woman. Who better to know how to play on your protective instincts?”

“So Trap?”

“Trap.” Sam agreed.

 

But really they had no idea.

)O(

Someone had left the door wide open. It wasn’t hard to waltz on through once she found it. Finding it had been bloody difficult though. Crowley had tried to seal all the doors in and out of Hell. All the classic paths were closed to her, not that she would have tread them anyway. So she’d sought out this one through barter and exchange, a little submission, and a whole lot of determination. But he was going to pay. Oh yes Dean Winchester was going to pay for what he’d let happen to her. She’d always known he would betray her in Hell, just as she would him. But she could seek revenge for him putting her there to begin with.

The neon Daffodil motel sign was just sputtering into life as the, usually shiny in her memory but now road dusty, car rumbled into the parking lot. She didn’t shift her position in the shadows. She wasn’t surprised when both men got out of the car and knocked on the motel room door. She wasn’t surprised at all when the woman embraced her quarry. What did shock her was the look on his brothers face. She was now very familiar with all of the corrupt human emotions. This look had a taste of jealousy and the scent of guilt laid heavily on the back of her tongue. Interesting…Her plan had always been to cripple Dean. To maim his soul the way he had hers. This was going to change her plans…in a good way.

He never saw her smile. He wouldn’t have recognized her anyway.

)O(

There was a golden retriever on the bed. Sam approached carefully but he could never resist a dog. He held out his hand and she licked it without really raising her head. He bent down and petted her head. She was crashed out and her bandages needed changing. They covered the left side her neck and down her left shoulder ending at her knee? Elbow? He really didn’t know enough about canine physiology. Her tail thumped twice when he sat down by her head and continued stroking her glossy fur.

Lisa came back from the bathroom, a tissue clenched in her hand, “ I got a call that she was attacked at one of the clinics she subs in. They said it was a poodle… can you believe that? A poodle?”

Dean walked up and put his hand on her shoulder, Lisa continued, “Ben and I flew out as soon as we could, we went to see her at the hospital but when we got there-” She sobbed a little, “well, the dog was in her bed, all tore up like that. Just when I was starting to panic one of the nurses walked in. She started pitching a fit about us bringing a dog in. Can you believe that! Not that my sister was missing-”

“How did you get out of there with her?” Sam interrupted.

“That was Ben.” Sam looked over to where the young man was sitting. The shock of seeing this kid who looked so much like someone he knew went through Sam again. But he still couldn’t place it.

“Ben?” Dean asked quietly.

“I remembered what you said.”

“What I said?” Dean asked. Sam thought Dean was kind of relishing being their protector again. It wasn’t a kind thought, didn’t make it any less true.

“About weird shit happening in hospitals. I just ran with it, I guess. I told the nurse that we’d brought auntie Jane her dog so that she wouldn’t be afraid of dogs after this. You know, get back on the horse? Face her fear?” The kid was sitting on the other bed with his long legs tucked up to his chin.

“That was quick thinking.” Dean said. Sam watched with fascination as Ben’s demeanor changed with the praise. Sam could remember Dean looking so similar any time their father commended Dean for anything. That was when the light bulb finally went on. Sam felt his jaw drop as he looked between Dean and this boy who wasn’t related to them. This boy who looked remarkably like a young John Winchester. A sound must have escaped him because Dean shook his head sharply. Sam closed his mouth a snap and Dean narrowed his eyes at him.

Ben continued on, oblivious to the silent conversation going on about him, “thanks, they didn’t even notice that we didn’t have a leash. Hardest part was getting her in and out of the rental car.”

“I’m definitely not getting the deposit back on it.” Lisa agreed. If she wasn’t as oblivious to the communication going on she didn’t call them on it.

The dog whimpered and nosed Sam’s hand. He’d ceased petting her when he’d had his mighty revelation. She sighed in an almost human fashion has he began to scratch behind her ears.

“Dude, what is it with you and the fuzzy ones?”

Sam shot Dean a tense smile, “I don’t know, I’ve always had a soft spot for Goldens.” Dean winced remembering what had happened to Sam’s one and only pet. “Has she changed since then?”

“No.” Lisa and Ben said together.

“Hmm, could be the injury keeping her in that form…”

“Or it could be she doesn’t know how to change back?” Dean supposed.

“I’ve begged and pleaded with her to change back. She just whimpers.” Lisa said.

Sam looked down at the dog who nearly had her head in his lap, “well Jane,” He smiled at her, “What’s keeping you like this? Huh? Does it hurt too much or do you not know how?” She didn’t reply but he hadn’t really expected her too. She just licked his hand and then huffed in pain as she tried to shuffle toward him.

“I’ve been thinking,” Ben began, “What if we took her to a more familiar surroundings? Like you do for amnesia patients…”

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Sam said.

“Yeah, where do you suggest we take her? Back to the scene of the crime?” Dean interjected. By then Lisa was leaning into Deans frame, her hand covering his on her shoulder. It was simple comfort offered and received. It made Sam’s stomach cramp.

“We could take her to her home.”

“She has a Condo in downtown Tacoma.” Lisa said.

“Well we gotta do something about those bandages before we put her in my car.”

In the end it was Sam who soaked the bandages off of her matted fur while Dean drove Lisa and Ben to the nearest drug store to get replacements. She whimpered and whined. Sam had wished he knew what he could give her for the pain. The wounds were obviously stitched by a professional but some had broken open, probably from her initial change. When they got back with supplies Sam had Dean stitch them back up while he petted her head and encouraged her through it. Lisa and Ben waited outside. Afterward as he helped Dean wrap the gauze Sam did his best to avoid the strange looks his brother was giving him. He rode in the back with Jane while Lisa and Ben squished into the front seat.

Sam had seen a lot of neighborhoods, but the one with Jane’s condo was strange. It was near a busy hospital in a part of town that had obviously become a slum. But there were a sudden upspring of new town houses and condos right in the middle of it all. Revitalization at work. Jane’s condo was the kind styled like town houses, with a shared front lawn in the front and a garage in the back. They parked around back. Dean held the leash he’d bought while Sam picked the lock. He’d just about got it open when-

“Heeeelllloooo!” Came a cheerful greeting. Dean bit back a curse and plastered his most charming smile on his face. Sam finished picking the lock shielding what he was doing with his body, Ben moved in tight also.

“Hiya.”

“Hello, you must be Jane’s neighbor, Mrs. Sandusky, right?” Lisa said with a smile.

“Why yes I am! You are?”

“I’m Lisa, Janey’s sister.”

“Oh, come to take of the dear while she recovers? Terrible business that…Well if you need any help… But I see you’ve brought help.”

Sam turned around to see a woman younger than he’d been imagining, maybe 60 when he’d been expecting 80. There was something slightly weird about her face, it was almost elastic in it’s expressions. Creepy.

“You know how it goes, gotta bring them along, can’t trust them to stay home by themselves.” Lisa very purposely didn’t identify them.

“Oh, don’t I know. I raised three boys of my own and my Harold couldn’t get by without me-”

“Well, we’ve got to be going, thank you Mrs. Sandusky.”

“hmm, yes, goodbye dear. Give Jane my best.”

Sam looked down when Jane began to growl. She stared a doggy death glare as the little old woman meandered out of view. By then the others had gone in. “Hey, she’s gone now, it’s okay.” He said. He gave a gentle tug on the leash and she followed him in.

The condo wasn’t what Sam had been expecting. He dropped the leash once he closed the door. He didn’t know why he’d been expecting something girly, but this place was certainly not overtly ‘girly’. The walls were a warm tan yellow and the floors a rustic cherry wood. The furniture was black and white, faux leather and wood, with lots of curves. There was an impressively large flat screen T.V. on the wall with these plastic butterfly wall art things placed so they looked like they were emerging from it. So, okay it was feminine. The place was small but neat.

Lisa was looking at a collection of pictures on the wall. One was obviously of the two of them when they were young, Lisa taller and dark whereas Jane was a little pudgy with a mop of red gold hair. There were two diplomas also hung up. One from the University of Colorado (and yes he did notice the irony there) and the other from Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. There was another picture there. It was obviously a quick snap that someone had staged at some family get together. It was recent. It showed Dean and Lisa standing side by side, their obviously clasped hands hidden by a smiling Ben. Sam’s stomach cramp tensed again and he pressed his hand over it, swallowing.

“We’re only half sisters.” Lisa said. She turned and gave Sam a sad smile, “Her Mom married my Dad when I was 7. Jane was born a year later. God, I hated her Mom, the Irish Bitch, but I loved- love Janey, like she’s my full sister.” Sam nodded for her to continue, “She was diagnosed with MS in college. Our dad freaked out, wanted her to move home immediately but Janey was stubborn. She finished her pre-vet in Colorado and then transferred to KSU to appease him. It wasn’t what he wanted, but it was closer.”

“Doesn’t MS affect fine motor detail?” He questioned.

“Yeah, like I said, Janey was-is stubborn. She found ways to still be a Vet without taking on difficult surgeries. She loves animals, always has. But eventually she couldn’t deal with the heat, another MS symptom. I begged her not to move out here but she wanted to be able to keep practicing, even in the summer.”

The dog huffed and pushed her good shoulder into Lisa’s leg. Lisa laughed pushing her hair out of her face.

Sam bent down, “hey poochie, why don’t you show us around this place?”

Jane gave a playful yip and led them to the kitchen. On the counter next to the coffee machine was a plentiful assortment of pill bottles. It was pictures on the fridge that drew Sam’s attention, one was of a heavier set girl, the other was of the same girl quite a bit thinner. The red gold hair and the resemblance to Lisa in the jaw and nose made it obvious that these were of Jane. The sayings, ‘You can do this!’ and ‘Keep it up!’ were hung up between the photos.

Lisa laughed out loud when she saw them, “Her mum used to nag her to no end to lose the weight. Jane didn’t until after she and our Dad passed. She said she could do it now for herself.”

“Hey Sam! Dude, you gotta see this!” Dean hollered down the stairs.

As he started up Jane tried to follow, She whined loudly when she hit the first step. “Hey, maybe you should stay down here, huh? If it’s something important I’ll bring it down to you, okay?” She sat down and opened her mouth in a doggy grin.

“Dude!” Came the impatient urging from upstairs.

Sam was shaking his head when he entered what should have been a second or guest bedroom. It had been turned into a library. Bookshelves lined the two long walls. Good bookshelves too, not the cheap wal-mart variety. They were stuffed to overflowing with books. The short wall with the door also held a desk and computer. The short wall across from the door held a window and a long work table. Dean was looking at something on the table. Sam looked over his shoulder.

“Wow.”

“Yeah…”

The table was littered with book binding supplies including the spine of a work in progress in some kind of vice. But most of the book binding stuff had been pushed to the side. The rest of the table was taken up with leather work. Black leather work. Black leather collar- and cuffs…

“Well, well, well… little Janey was hiding and interesting secret.” Dean said as he picked up one of the cuffs. There was a second pair still in the works, missing their buckles and other metal bits. They were longer, possibly ankle cuffs?

Sam laughed a little and then began to peruse the books. There was the obvious collection of veterinary text books and medical journals relegated to a lower shelf. There was an amazing collection of science fiction and fantasy novels organized by author with some displayed proudly. He picked up an Anne McCaffrey novel he’d never heard of, it was signed. The other three displayed that he picked up were also signed. It was plain that Jane was a book collector.

Dean was spinning one of the cuffs around his finger as he left to explore some more. Sam was about to leave when a separate collection of books caught his eye. It was three shelves of nonfiction. The first one contained books on the supernatural. They were modern books, nothing scary, nothing you couldn’t find at a borders. The second contained books about Wicca and Witchcraft, the kind Sam associated with fluffy bunny crystal wearers. Although there were a couple of interesting titles. The third shelf contained two interesting things. A collection of kinky titles, like ‘The loving Dominate’,

‘Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns’, and ‘ The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships & Other Adventures’, and a very white, very living, cat.

Sam did not scream like a girl, no matter what Dean might say. It was a manly shout as the freaked cat attacked his pant leg sinking in sharp claws. Dean and Ben ran in as the cat climbed Sam like a tree. Sam reached to dislodge it but it just sunk it’s claws deeper and flattened it’s ears closer to it’s skull. Dean, seeing his brother wrestling with the cat was bent over laughing hard enough to cry.

It was Ben who rescued them, saying, “Kami-kitty!” as he plucked the fuzz ball off of Sam’s now bloody chest. The cat hearing it’s name calmed somewhat, it was either that or the scruff hold the kid had on it.

“Dude, hic, you got Pwned by a cat!”

“Shut up, Dean. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Bring the cat.”

Once they were all down stairs again Sam had Ben set the squirming cat down. The cat immediately circled Jane then head butted her chin. Go figure, even the cat could tell. It made a strange trilling meow as it wove around her feet.

“Hey, Jane.” Sam squatted down near them, “Kitty-”

“Kami-kitty.” Ben corrected.

Sam shot him an unamused glance before continuing, “Kami-kitty needs you. She needs to be fed and we don’t know where her stuff is.”

Jane whined.

“We need you to change so we can help her. She’s hungry.”

Jane whined again. Sam glanced up at the others, Lisa nodded at him. Jane had been a veterinarian and devoted to animals.

“Jane, it’s stinks upstairs, I think that fancy litter box needs fixing, poor Kami-kitty, you’ve got to change to help her.” Lisa said.

What started as a canine whine turned into a high pitched woman’s scream. Sam was pretty sure he could hear her stitches popping again. But once she was fully back into human shape he could see only jagged pink scars that had made a mess of what was once a large tattoo of a peacock on her back, her very naked back. Her very naked everything. Dean grabbed Ben and pulled him into the kitchen but the kid had already seen his aunts naked backside. Sam scrambled to grab the throw off of the back of the couch. Jane didn’t react as it settled around her shoulders, she was panting and shaking.

“Janey!” Lisa said. Jane looked up at her sister and blinked several times. She started to cough. Lisa stretched out her hand to touch Jane’s head and stopped midway. Sam didn’t know what stopped her. She just turned and said, “I’m going to run upstairs for some clothes.”

Sam nodded already turning back to Jane, “Shh, breath, I’ve got you.” He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder pulling up the blanket.

Jane gulped for air, “Tha-” She started but another cough interrupted. Sam registered Dean stepping back into the room.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk.”

Jane shook her head, “That’s not Mrs. Sandusky!” she grated out.

Lisa screamed from somewhere overhead.

Dean just reacted.

“Ben! get your aunt out the house! GO BEN!” Sam shouted as he ran after his brother taking the stairs three at a time. Sam didn’t have time to take in any of the details for Jane’s bedroom. Mrs. Sandusky was there, smiling, her yellow eyes blazing.

“Lisa! Noooo!” Dean was shouting, head aimed up. Sam glanced up there already knowing what he would find. Lisa was cut across her belly, her shirt rucked up to show it in all it’s gruesome detail. The demon inhabiting Mrs. Sandusky began to cackle as the boiling flames shot out from Lisa’s body.

Suddenly all he could hear was the sound of Dean’s screams and the sound of crackling fire. The demon was gone. Lisa was beyond help but Dean wasn’t. Sam grabbed his brothers arm and pulled him down the stairs as the fire seared up his shoulder. A deafening crack heralded some part of the roof giving as he pushed Dean down the stairs. They made it out the back door just as it gave.

Jane was leaning against the impala shivering still in nothing but her blanket. Ben looked up as they came racing out.

“Mom?!?”

Sam could hear Dean weeping but he couldn’t look at him right then. He shook his head at Ben, unable to say it. To tell this boy that his mother was dead.

“Mom!” he screamed before dissolving into tears. Dean caught him up into his arms.

Jane continued to stare at the burning remains of her home. She was shivering but her voice was steady as she chanted, “I’m going to kill that Bitch. I’m going to kill that Bitch. I’m going to-”

“Yeah, we are.” Dean agreed.

　

  



	2. Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Boys take their new tagalongs to Bobby's
> 
> Oh yes, this was going to be just great, possible weeks spent with one not fully soul recovered Sasquatch of a man, one heartbroken Winchester, one uptight bitch (literally), and one surly grieving kid, just peachy.

Bobby watched the Impala rumble past the junkyard gate. It had been a month since the phone call from Sam informing him of Lisa's death and of their two new tag-along's. Now they were here on his doorstep. Bobby had nursed the Winchester boys through heartbreak before, but this time he didn't know what to expect. Normally they relied heavily on Jim, Jack, and Jose` to ease their mourning but this time there was an impressionable boy to worry about. Not to mention the female monster, no he couldn't think of her that way. He was inviting her into his home, if he thought of her only as a skin-walker he would never trust her.

 

Bobby went into high alert as the car pulled up to the front porch. Sam was driving and the car was more than just road dusty, she was caked with grime. Someone had written 'wash me jackass' with broad finger strokes on the trunk. The car's rumbling halted but no one got out for a full thirty seconds.

 

Well, enough of that bullshit, “Hey! You gonna lounge in there all day or are you two idjits gonna introduce me to your stowaways?” He slapped the warm hood for good measure.

 

“Bobby!” Sam hugged him and Dean looked incredulous over Bobby hitting his baby. The woman and the boy stood to the side. The boy had on headphones pumping out loud music, his head buried in a video game. His aunt looked like she wanted to slap the kid upside the head.

 

“Uh Bobby,” Dean said, “This is Jane and you remember Ben.”

 

“Howdy.”

 

“Thank you for letting us stay here awhile,” She shook his hand, “Ben? Ben!”

 

The boy looked up sullenly, “Hi Bobby.”

 

Oh yes, this was going to be just great, possible weeks spent with one not fully soul recovered Sasquatch of a man, one heartbroken Winchester, one uptight bitch (literally), and one surly grieving kid, just peachy.

 

)O(

 

Well, she hadn't expected them to take the sister with them. She figured once they identified her as a skin-walker Sam or Dean would be forced to put a silver bullet in the bitch. That was their MO, no matter how much it would hurt them, they didn't let monsters live. Something had changed and now her enemy was no longer predictable, an unpredictable enemy was a formidable one. She reminded herself to be on her A game.

 

Her last vessel died with a sigh. Her new one smelled like roses and dead things.

 

She needed a way to direct Dean. He'd been easily manipulated before, now though? She needed a way to press his buttons. She needed to keep him occupied while she sought her treasures. Her skin-walker was dead. She was going to need some extra hands, some minions of her own...

 

)O(

 

Sam sat back in the old recliner and just breathed. Somewhere along the line Bobby had stopped looking at him like a threat and that eased some of what worried him about being here. He and Dean needed to figure some things out and they needed a safe place to do it.

 

“From what I can tell, your new yellow eyed friend is not the same as your old yellow eyed friend.” Bobby said.

 

“We knew that Bobby. I shot him with the colt- you were there. The Demon spirit shorted and died.”

 

Bobby nodded and all three of them took a drink. Sam was sticking to beer but Dean was on his second  finger of bourbon. Ben was safely ensconced in one of the upstairs guest rooms. He probably wouldn't be down for another couple of hours when he finally got hungry. Jane had said she wanted to take a nap. She'd slept a lot in the car too but Sam remembered what it felt like, grief so thick like a blanket and all you can do is sleep to escape it.

 

“If it isn't Azazel, who is it?” He prompted.

 

“Hell if I know”

 

“You know, I have a theory,” Dean began, he drained his glass and then refilled it. Sam didn't even know why he was bothering with the pretense of the glass. “What if eye color isn't so much about who a demon is as much as it is about what rank the demon holds.”

 

Sam chewed his lip before responding, “I don't know, Dean, you'd know better than we would.” Bobby quirked his eyebrows in agreement with him, “Besides all of the classifications of demons that I've read have all been wrong to some extent. Binsfeld, Guazzo, Michaelis, heck even Barrett have all postulated a military style hierarchy but they never got the order right. Heck, Binsfeld didn't even list Lilith as a demon at all!”

 

“God, you are such a dork. Binsfeld was writing in the 1800's, Guazzo and Michaelis the 1600's, shit changes.” then responding at the look that they other two men gave him, “What? I read too!”

 

Sam chuckled.

 

“He's right, with Lucifer back in the cage and his number one lady dead to set him free, things down there have changed a lot. How else could a piss-ant like Crowley become the king of Hell?” Bobby scratched his beard.

 

“Man, I'm glad Cas ganked him.” Bobby's attention snapped to Sam, “Cas told me! I haven't been scratching the wall!”

 

“So as I was saying, maybe someone stepped into Azazel's yellow eyed shoes and power.”

 

“Well that's freaking great, but why come after Lisa and Jane, it just doesn't fit.”

 

Dean finally did away his glass and took a long swig out of the Beam bottle, “It's because of me.” He grated out, “Why else resurrect that form of killing? That demon is out to hurt...” He couldn't finish the sentence. Sam got up and removed the bottle from his brothers hand.

 

“It's because of me, Sam.”

 

“Shut up you idjit.” Bobby was suddenly standing beside them, “Yeah, maybe this demon bitch chose her because of an attachment to you, killed her like that to make some kind of twisted point, that doesn't make it your fault!”

 

Sam squeezed Deans shoulder and wished he could wrap him up in his arms. Sam pushed the strange feelings he'd been dealing with back down. “Bobby's right. You remember how I felt after Jess? I always thought that if I hadn't loved her she would still be alive but you're the one who made me understand; I couldn't have known, not really. And neither could you. You did everything you could to protect her and Lisa had a pretty good idea of what she was walking into. “

 

It was Sam's turn to swig from the bottle. It burned going down in a way that liquor hadn't burned for him in a long, long time.

 

“She asked me to walk away and I did. She still died.” Dean got up and walked out. Sam heard the screen door slam behind him.

 

Bobby's hand on Sam's shoulder kept him from going after his brother. “It's going to be rough sailing for a while but he'll forgive himself eventually.”

 

Sam just hoped he could forgive himself because he wasn't feeling any loss. His heart ached for Dean but in some way's he was glad Lisa was gone. He took another swig of bourbon before Bobby took the bottle away. Was this what it had been like without his soul?

 

)O(

 

The scrapyard had been a comforting place when Dean was a kid. Bobby and Dad had let him and Sam explore to their hearts content. It really wasn't that big of a place and Bobby was kind of picky as to what kind of junk he took in. One of his favorite places was the old tin roofed garage. The South Dakota summer sun was baking down on it now but it was dark and if not cool certainly cooler than outside. The hard concrete floor showed grease and oil stains at least 15 years old. There was also candle wax and red paint that wasn't as old. It was a visible and gut twisting reminder of what had almost happened here.

 

Dean didn't want that memory lingering. This was the place where he and Sam watched Bobby and Dad fix the carburetor in the Impala. This was where John and Bobby had argued if it was worth it to replace the transmission in the Chevelle, clearly Dad had been right since Bobby was still driving the thing. This was the place where John had first given Dean the keys and said  'treat 'er right and she'll treat you right' . This breezy tin shack had been where he and Sam had played hide and seek while Dad and  Bobby researched future hunts.

 

So no, this stain couldn't stay. The memory of what a soulless Sam had nearly done needed to be wiped from the floor. Dean ransacked the accumulated junk by the work bench till he found a bucket, a stiff bristled brush and a box of powdered detergent. He started by scraping up as much of the wax as he could and then set to work scrubbing. He didn't say a word when Sam grabbed another brush and joined him on concrete.

 

The last of the paint had finally come up before Sam said, “I'm sorry. I didn't mean-”

 

“Hey, you don't have anything to be sorry for. This wasn't you-”

 

“No, not this. Before, I didn't mean you didn't have the right to mourn Lisa, Dean. I just don't want you to feel guilty. I know your going to blame yourself but-”

 

“Sam shut up.” Dean threw his brush into the bucket spraying his brother with sudsy water. Sam made a face that made Dean smile a little. Sometimes Sam could be such a girl,  although with his t-shirt soaked and sticking to his well muscled torso he looked a bit like a male stripper. He mentally smacked himself, he'd long ago dealt with his weird fascination with Sam's beauty but sometimes it still blindsided him. “I know,” He continued, “Okay? I know. But I also remember Hell and I don't want to talk about it. Especially with you. I don't want you accidentally recovering any memories by me replaying mine.”

 

“Dean.” It was barely a whisper but Dean knew there was a plea in it.

 

“When they were..” He cleared his throat. Dean was still kneeling and his hands were clenched into fists, “When they were trying to break me, to make me say yes, they would bring women and over to torture in front of me. I don't remember them all. Can you guess their favorite method? Anyone of them could be this new yellow eyed bitch.”

 

Sam turned so he was kneeling in front of him, “That still doesn't make it your fault.” He got up and hauled Dean to his feet. Then turned and ambushed him into a hug. Dean felt a brief press of lips to his cheek and felt a flush of something he didn't dare name. Something in that moment had changed. When they released Dean thought he saw a blush staining his brothers neck. He didn't comment then, he just let it go.

 

So wrapped up in their thoughts as they headed back to the house neither brother noticed the shadow that slid across the surface of the Impala's hood. Or the shadow that licked tentatively at the wood of the porch, cringing back as it got a zap of warding.

 

)O(

 

The next morning Sam awoke to the sound of a woman's angry voice. He'd gotten the couch in the coin toss but Dean wasn't in the recliner when he looked over.

 

“You're just now waking up? You really can sleep through anything.”

 

Sam waved a single finger in the direction of Bobby's voice. Bobby just chuckled. Sam stretched his muscles and his hearing at the same time.

 

“This isn't a decision you get to make Dean!”

 

“Bullshit it isn't. I get to choose who rides in my car. I can just leave you here.”

 

Bobby snorted in response to that but Jane replied, “Sure you can, but you won't.”

 

“Oh yeah?”

 

“We have just as much right to this fight as you do, heck more right. All I'm asking is for you to teach us.”

 

“Ben too? You gonna go hunting with him in tow or you gonna leave him with strangers so you can go get yourself killed?”

 

“I didn't think you were a stranger.” Came a quiet young male voice. Sam winced, Ben was sitting smack dab in the middle of the fight.

 

A pan slammed down on the counter before she continued quieter, “I can't be there for him, Dean. I'm not-”

 

“Like hell you can't. You're his only living family now, you have to be.”

 

“Bullshit! You're his family too or have already forgotten! At least you're still human!” The squeak of hinges and slam of the screen door announced her exit.

 

“Jane. Ben” Dean sounded lost for a moment. The stomping of footsteps up the stairs told exactly where the young man had gone.

 

Sam knew it would be unwise to leave Dean to brood, plus he was hungry and Dean was in the kitchen. Dean was still staring at the back door when Sam walked in. He grabbed a piece of bacon and started chewing trying to make up his mind if he wanted to say anything. Dean wasn't always the fastest on the uptake when it came to emotional stuff and after dealing with Jane for a month he could easily say Jane was the same. She hadn't shed a single tear for her sister. He didn't think she wasn't grieving, just holding it in and eventually the damn would break.

 

“She's kinda right you know.” Dean whirled around so fast that Sam was thankful he hadn't been holding a knife. Not that Sam was standing close enough for it to be a problem.

 

The expected outburst from Dean never came, he just sighed and said, “Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I like it.”

 

“Uh- did you just admit to being wrong? Cause I think I should go grab Bobby and the camera so we can record it for posterity.”

 

“Shut up, Bitch.”

 

“I don't think I'm the bitch this go around, Jerk.” There was coffee, thank God, because having this conversation uncaffeinated was not an option Sam wanted to ponder.

 

“The idea of taking them Hunting with us gives me heartburn.”

 

“Me too.” Sam poured a second cup and handed it to his brother. Dean was still sleep rumpled with his hair sticking up funny on one side. He was wearing an old t-shirt and a thin pair of sweats that had seen better days. Leaning against the kitchen counter he looked almost edible. Sam shifted to sit at the table.

 

First of all, men were not supposed to look edible. Second, that was his brother, _brother_. Sam stared into his coffee wondering for just a moment what the hell was wrong with him. Did something get damaged when they pushed his soul back inside? First the jealousy for Dean's relationship with Lisa, then that kiss the night before, and now this. They had way bigger things to deal with right now but apparently this was when Sam's psyche decided to pay horrible games with him.

 

He got it together enough to look up and see Dean staring. Sam swallowed at the look on Dean's face. It was dark but unreadable, which was weird because there was one thing Sam was really good at; reading his brother. Sam tilted his head in question but Dean just shook his head.

 

“I don't want to make the same mistakes. I want this bitch dead. Dead, dead, not just banished back to hell. But I don't want to wake up one morning and see that I've become Dad or that I've turned Ben into -”

 

“What? Turned Ben into us? I don't think we're all that bad. We've stood against the dark and won. Doesn't that count for something?”

 

Dean growled and downed a scalding gulp of coffee.

 

“You know what I really hated about how we grew up?” Sam continued, “Not having a choice.”

 

“Sam.”

 

“No, hear me out.”

 

Dean nodded but he put his arm across his stomach as though he was trying to keep his guts from spilling on the floor, or maybe he was protecting himself from a punch to the solar plexus.

 

“I didn't have a choice till later and in the end I chose this life. Jane didn't choose to be bitten and Ben didn't choose to loose his mom but they have the right to choose to become hunters.”

 

That seamed to get through, Dean put his cup in the sink and walked over to Sam. He put his hand on Sam's shoulder saying, “Okay, thanks. I should go talk to Jane.”

 

“Yeah, no. An apology right now is most needed upstairs.” Sam indicated upwards dislodging Dean's hand. He bit down on a sigh as the hand slid down his arm before retreating. 

 

Sam ate quickly then cleaned up the breakfast mess. Bobby was sitting at his desk in the other room with at least five books spread out in front of him. Sam just couldn't summon the desire to research and he let Bobby know he would be out in the yard. Jane was nowhere to be seen from the backdoor. The mid-morning sunshine was painting the whole area a hazy yellow and long shadows stretched on the dirt and asphalt. Sam followed his feet back into the garage. The second bay was open to reveal a 1975 Chevy Nova up on the lift. Bobby's newest project car was rather sad looking with it's parts spread around and the body unfinished and rusting. Sam debated working on the carburetor which was laying in pieces on the nearest worktable when a sound caught his attention.

 

The back half of the garage was mostly just used for storage. A sound emerged from behind a stack of boxes, it was a grunt followed by a whine and panting. Curious to see what creature had ventured inside (it wasn't unusual for the occasional raccoon or coyote wander into the scrapyard), Sam peeked around. There on the floor was a dark golden retriever and a pile of woman’s clothes. As he watched Jane shifted back into human form. It was a twisting and unnatural morph. Watching made breakfast rise in his gorge and a memory twist in the back of his mind. Sam steadfastly did not try to chase the memory but the image of a dead doberman flashed in his head.

 

“Three.” Jane whispered. She was on her hands and knees, bare backside facing Sam's direction. He couldn't help but notice that it was a rather nice backside. It was a relief in a way, that he could appreciate her feminine form and that whatever he was feeling for his brother hadn't completely screwed him up.

 

Jane was panting with exertion but she changed shape again. The timbre of her whine changed back to canine as she finished and a lustrous tail thumped on the concrete. Then almost as soon as she had settled in the dog shape she was changing back.

 

Human again she mumbled, “four” and then her arms gave out and she laid on the cold floor, “Come on Janey, you idiot, you can do this.” She said to herself. Her long strawberry blonde hair was spread across the floor and her back. Sam suddenly wondered what it would look like spread across a pillow. He remonstrated himself for a perv but at the same time he decided not to interrupt her.

 

“God dammit!” Jane slapped the concrete before pulling herself into a sitting position. Her breath was rapid as though she'd just run a mile or four but it didn't stop her from reaching into the nearest box, pulling out a hunk of junk, and lobbing it at the back wall. If it had just been a piece of plastic it would have been fine but whatever she'd grabbed had been made of metal that shattered on impact. Most of the pieces rained down harmlessly but one sharp bit ricocheted off the wall and sliced her across the cheek.

 

“Ow! God dammit, God dammit! Fuck!” She clutched at her face and then began to cry. Something inside Sam broke while he watched the barrier Jane had put on her emotions snap. He crossed the floor to her and hugged her close.

 

“S-Sam?”

 

“This okay? You okay?”

 

“Yes- no” She started to really cry then. Sam hated when women cried but her very naked body was pressed into his. He petted her hair and muttered words of consolation. He was so distracted that he missed the shadow slithering towards them...

 

)O(

 

Dean took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He got no answer. He knocked again a little more forcefully. Still no answer.

 

“Dammit Ben, open the door!”

 

“What.” Ben had obviously been crying but was trying not to look it. Dean gave a curt nod but his heart  contorted in his chest.

 

“I came to say I'm sorry.”

 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

Dean walked over and sat on the bed. Ben was staying in the room Dean usually used, it kind of made him feel like a kid again especially since Led Zeppelin was still bleating out from the headphones Ben had abandoned.

 

“Hey, I mean it.”

 

“Shut up!” the kids hands sliced through the air, “I used to want you to be my real dad so bad. And the way mom used to look at us- I thought maybe she had it wrong, how awesome would it be if she'd been wrong?” He turned to face the door, “I'm not even sure that is something I want anymore. You said I'm not your family.”

 

Dean let the 'shut up' pass, the kid was hurting and he'd made it worse, “ I know what I said. Doesn't make it true.” He put his hand on Ben's shoulder to make him turn around, “Whether we're blood or not, you are my family. That's why this is hard, Ben. I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want you following down the same paths I've been down. They don't lead to happy places.”

 

“They led you to us.”

 

Yeah, they did and-” He was cut off by a loud female scream.

 

Dean was flying down the stairs before conscious thought caught up to him. That scream had come from Jane. Where the hell was Sam? Bobby met him at the backdoor with a rifle in his hands and the old Browning he kept under the couch was handed to Dean. He looked out to see Sam and a buck naked Jane zigzagging across the driveway. They were running from a shadow and Dean had a small worry that it was a Daeva.

 

“Get inside!” Sam hollered to Jane, “The warding will stop it!” He split to the left while Jane juked to the right. The shadow followed Sam and leaped into the Impala's mundane shadow, it seemed to suck up that shadow and grow bigger. With it's new longer reach it extended a giant hand and grabbed hold of him by the arm.

 

“Sam!” Ben shouted.

 

“No!” Bobby pulled him back. Sam was slammed to the ground and dragged a couple of inches. It wasn't a Daeva because it didn't try and scratch him to ribbons. Which was good news but Dean didn't have a clue how to kill it.  Jane was there though and she'd grabbed up a tire iron.

 

“Let go motherfucker!” She slammed the iron into the shadow twice before the thing let go of Sam with a high pitched squeal. Sparing no backwards glance Sam rose to his feet and bolted for the door, Jane hot on his heels. He made it up the steps in two long strides but Jane with her shorter legs had just hit the second step when a black shape struck from under the porch. Snagged by the ankle she went down face first.

 

“Iron shot! Iron rounds!” Dean shouted to Bobby. A bag of them soared towards his hand and he caught it just barely. The bag was extremely heavy and Dean heard his finger snap. He bit back a curse and just continued to slam a round into the gun, aim, and fire. The shadow was dragging a screaming Jane across the gravel. Bobby's gun went off seconds after Dean's and the shadow wailed. It was the ugly sound of something unnatural in pain and dying. It would have given him a sense of satisfaction if his finger hadn't been throbbing. He hadn't thought for a second about squeezing the trigger with a broken finger.

 

“Jane!” Sam was at her side helping her up. Her front was a bloody mess. If she'd been wearing clothes it wouldn't have been much but with being completely bare she had a serious case of road burn. Which begged the question, why was Jane naked? And why did Dean feel just a little breathless when thinking of Jane and Sam getting 'friendly' ?

 

As she came through the door Bobby handed her the afghan from the back of the couch his face tinted pink and eyes averted, “first aide kit's upstairs”

 

“Ben?”

 

“On it.” He was racing up the stairs before the words were out of his mouth.

 

“Thanks, I should debride this and then shift to heal.”

 

Dean winced, “I don't think you can- the warding.” Sam and Bobby nodded along with him.

 

“Damn.”

 

“I'll help you clean it.” Sam directed her to the recliner.

 

“Thanks Sam” She said still holding his arm.

 

Dean felt for a second as though he had just witnessed something intimate and didn't that just hit him with a kick. He didn't have time to analyze what he was feeling, so he said, “Dude, why is she naked? Jane why are you naked? Sam you dog!”

 

Jane let out a bark of a laugh, “He's not the dog- I am!” She dissolved into hysterical giggles which changed into laughing sobs.

 

“Auntie Janey?” Ben had returned with the massive first aide kit. Sam took it from him.

 

“I'm fine, really I'm OK, Ben”

 

Ben shot a look to Dean who shook his head and shrugged. Bobby ushered them into the kitchen muttering something about the mystery of the female species as he slid the pocket doors shut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know it's been more than a year. I reread Reaction and thought - hey this doesn't totally suck. I did change the format to a chapter story rather than a series. I do promise adult content eventually. 
> 
> I just finished watching the first few episodes of season 6 again which is helping to get my behind back in gear. Please ignore the gaping plot hole created by ep 2.


End file.
